If you've been reading this blog for some sense of what I'm working on, rest assured that the groundwork for Pelting Out continues. Things keep coming up that interest me, including stories that looked more ominous than certain parties might have thought on first read. I recently began digging into my own Scandinavian ancestry. And I'm still trying to open some doors that I've been knocking upon for months. In terms of writing, it's definitely still time to make the donuts. Concurrently, it's that time of year when work gets ever so briefly repositioned so that the zesty parts of life can be attended to more fully. In terms of straight-up logistics, my family in Seattle is hosting a loving gaggle of visitors. Dinners and excursions are being planned, all sorts of goodness is being hoped for by kids young and old. I love to fully enter Holidaze mode. Which also gets me in the mood to pass around the cheer. However you celebrate this time of year, I hope it proves major league merry. And for those looking to the week ahead and the calendar, you'll want to check back for something I do each year - my annual YearEnder. You can get added to my "nice" list by sending me an email - in which case you'll get the full YearEnder with all the familial updates. Of course, "naughty" still gets plenty here with the business end of the shtick I offer up to assess the year we're collectively leaving behind. Either way, I hope that whatever you wrap yourself up in this time of year keeps you warm and ready for heaps of awesomeness in 2012. Thanks for reading. Rock on. Merrily.
A time ripe for new coinage - Opportunify Now
One of the well-traveled memes surrounding the various "Occupy (insert location here)" movements around the Nation concerns how social networks are being used. That's the shortest of lazy shorthand - I'm as guilty as the next feller for bringing it up. But I'm nonetheless thinking - and seeing in action - how things like Twitter, Facebook and network updates on YouTube offer a bulletin board for everyone to stick up their "I need a ride to..." and "Looking for a bassist..." equivalent announcements. What might have happened back in the 90s if specific groups of activists
had such tools at their disposal? Not just to get people to join whatever action, but to publicize whatever happened after the fact. Just so that there's no confusion given the above and prior mentions of committed people and actions they take - I'm talking in very narrow terms about a very specific cause that was gathering steam in the 90s which I've seen echoes of recently. It should also be noted that these networking tools have a serious double-edge to them. Non-movement individuals can monitor and maybe even claim that they know what's going on. So my questions go to what might be called the off-center or tertiary movements that just may be recently rejuvenated. Not the anti-"Wall Street" or "besmirch the damned influential" movements. For this mental and physical exercise in finding the protest, you must take it a step further. I'm looking at those taking what I've always seen as a class-based argument to a very distended place. Those folks who are now, in effect, saying that they've had a bone to pick for years and this is the time to bring it up again. Opportunify (insert location here), if you will.
With that platform somewhat set, I'm prepping to head to Iowa with these and other questions in the quiver. Iowa, you ask? Believe it or not, the Great State that gave us the fictional Corporal Radar O'Reilly and the setting for the extended Dockers ad that was "Field of Dreams" is indeed an environment rich with material for what I'm researching. Expect many more clues to that end supplied here in the week-plus ahead - both prior to and during my visit. Please check back (or sign up for the email updates using the form in the right hand column to do so). As always, thanks for reading.
With that platform somewhat set, I'm prepping to head to Iowa with these and other questions in the quiver. Iowa, you ask? Believe it or not, the Great State that gave us the fictional Corporal Radar O'Reilly and the setting for the extended Dockers ad that was "Field of Dreams" is indeed an environment rich with material for what I'm researching. Expect many more clues to that end supplied here in the week-plus ahead - both prior to and during my visit. Please check back (or sign up for the email updates using the form in the right hand column to do so). As always, thanks for reading.
An October stir amidst the falling leaves
For all the blather surrounding the "Occupy (Insert Location Here)" wave, I'm left wondering one thing - why protest in October? Is there something inherently more activist-friendly or inspiring about this time of year? I may be overstating the correlation thanks to the most-cliched historical example (Russia in October of 1917) or the surging focus upon current protests. But I'm also thinking about a much less covered brand new example in the area I'm trying to better understand that has deep roots in October activism. I'd love to hear anyone's crackpot theories about why certain segments of society get their collective Underoos all up in a bunch in October. Maybe it has something to do with the baseball playoffs, or lack thereof for certain folks? Go Brewers, by the way. Or maybe folks get unduly lathered up by overpriced corn mazes? Undiagnosed pumpkin allergies? Yes, these are all highly plausible. Nonetheless, I think the harvest of such ideas is not all in at this point.